Steerable high-resolution display

Abstract

A display system comprising a foveal display having a monocular field of view of at least 1 degree is positioned within a scannable field of view of at least 20 degrees, the foveal display positioned for a user. In one embodiment, the foveal display is positioned for the user's fovea.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A display system to display an image, the display system comprising:
 a display to project a portion of the image, the display having a monocular field of view of at least 1 degree; 
 an optical steering element to move the image portion to one of a plurality of positions; 
 wherein the display generates a plurality of image portions to be displayed at the plurality of positions within a field of view; 
 the image including a foveal image and a field image, the foveal image having a higher resolution than the field image, and the image designed to be perceived as a single image; 
 wherein the foveal image is moveable within the image, and is positioned in a selected location within the image; and 
 wherein the field image has a spatially variable pixel density over the field of view. 
 
     
     
       2. The display system of  claim 1 , wherein
 a combination of the foveal image and the field display image provides a binocular field of view of at least 60 degrees, and a resolution of at least 0.02 degrees per pixel in a gaze direction. 
 
     
     
       3. The display system of  claim 1 , further comprising the optical steering elements designed to physically move a portion of the display system. 
     
     
       4. The display system of  claim 1 , wherein the optical steering element includes one or more of: an adjustable mirror, a tunable prism, an acousto-optical modulator, an adjustable display panel, a curved mirror, a polarization selective mirror, a diffractive element, and/or a Fresnel reflector. 
     
     
       5. The display system of  claim 1 , wherein the display is turned off during movement. 
     
     
       6. The display system of  claim 1 , further comprising: a light source for the display system comprising a microLED. 
     
     
       7. A display system comprising:
 a display to project a plurality of image portions; 
 a steering element designed to move each of the plurality of image portions to one of a plurality of positions within a field of view, the plurality of image portions to create an image comprising a foveal image and a field image; 
 wherein the foveal image is moveable within the image, and is positioned in a selected location within the image; and 
 wherein the field image created by the display has a spatially variable pixel density, and the foveal image has a higher resolution than the field image. 
 
     
     
       8. The display system of  claim 7 , wherein:
 a combination of the foveal image and the field image provides a hybrid image with a binocular field of view of at least 60 degrees, and a resolution of at least 0.02 degrees per pixel in the foveal display area. 
 
     
     
       9. The display system of  claim 7 , wherein the steering element comprises one or more of: an adjustable mirror, a tunable prism, an acousto-optical modulator, an adjustable display panel, a curved mirror, a polarization selective mirror, a diffractive element, and/or a Fresnel reflector. 
     
     
       10. The display system of  claim 7 , wherein the moveable display is turned off during the moving. 
     
     
       11. The display system of  claim 7 , further comprising: a light source for the display system comprising a microLED. 
     
     
       12. A hybrid display system comprising: a display panel to display an image portion;
 a steering element to move the image portion to one of a plurality of positions within a field of view, and output light from the display panel to a user; 
 wherein the display panel displays a plurality of image portions and the steering element moves each of the plurality of image portions to one of the plurality of positions; 
 the light from the plurality of image portions from the display panel generating a hybrid image including a field image having a first resolution, and a foveal image having a second resolution, the second resolution higher than the first resolution; 
 wherein the foveal image is positioned in a selected location within the hybrid image, and the foveal image and the field image have a variable pixel density; and 
 wherein the display panel, by switching rapidly between image portions, displays the hybrid image in a time multiplexed way so that both the field image and the foveal image are simultaneously perceived by the user. 
 
     
     
       13. The display system of  claim 12 , wherein a combination of the foveal image and the field image provides a binocular field of view of at least 60 degrees, and a resolution of at least 0.02 degrees per pixel in the gaze direction. 
     
     
       14. The display system of  claim 12 , wherein the steering element comprises one or more steering elements. 
     
     
       15. The display system of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more steering elements include one or more of: an adjustable mirror, a tunable prism, an acousto-optical modulator, an adjustable display panel, a curved mirror, a polarization selective mirror, a diffractive element, and/or a Fresnel reflector. 
     
     
       16. The display system of  claim 12 , wherein the display panel is turned off during the moving. 
     
     
       17. The display system of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 a light source for the display panel comprising a microLED.